KR20130045345A - Dry cleaning housings, dry cleaning units and dry cleaning methods - Google Patents

Abstract

The dry cleaning housing 10 causes the cleaning medium PC to be scattered by the airflow and causes the cleaning medium PC to contact the cleaning object CO in order to clean the cleaning object. The dry cleaning housing 10 may include an internal space in which the cleaning medium PC is scattered; An opening 10E configured to come into contact with the cleaning object C to cause the cleaning medium PC to collide with the cleaning object CO; A ventilation path 10F configured to supply air from the outside to the internal space; A suction port configured to suck air introduced into the interior space through the ventilation path 10F to generate a rotary airflow inside the interior space; And the porous unit 10C which allows the material removed from the cleaning object C to pass therethrough.

Description

Dry cleaning housings, dry cleaning units and dry cleaning methods {DRY CLEANING HOUSING, DRY CLEANING DEVICE, AND DRY CLEANING METHOD}

The present invention relates to a dry cleaning housing, a dry cleaning apparatus and a dry cleaning method.

A known " dry cleaning method " which performs a cleaning operation on an object to be cleaned (hereinafter referred to as a "cleaning object") without using a cleaning liquid is a particulate cleaning body scattered by air flow. And a step of bringing it into contact with the cleaning object for cleaning (Patent Documents 1 and 2). In addition, a known apparatus performs a dry cleaning operation using a flaky cleaning body (Patent Documents 3 and 4).

According to the dry cleaning operation described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a flexible material such as "sponge material and chemical clay material" is used as the material for the granular cleaning body. Therefore, the effect on the cleaning object generated when the cleaning body comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object is relatively small, and the entire surface of the cleaning object is less likely to be damaged.

In addition, according to the dry cleaning operation described in Patent Document 2, the cleaning body comes into contact with the cleaning object through the mesh member. Therefore, the dry cleaning operation does not appear to be suitable for performing the "cleaning operation for the firmly adhered stain" other than the fact that the cleaning body is flexible.

For the image forming apparatus, often "heat dissolved toner" is firmly fixed to the developing unit of the dry developing apparatus by using toner particles, so that a cleaning operation for removing such hardly adhered toner is performed at check time or recycling. It is necessary for the process.

In addition, a mask jig, called a dip pallet or carrier pallet, used in a "flow soldering bath process" is coated with flux. However, when the coated flux accumulates and hardens, the precision of the mask for the "object to be soldered" is degraded, thus preventing proper "flow soldering". Accordingly, a cleaning operation is required to remove the flux firmly fixed to the mask jig.

Since the "fixed strength" of the firmly fixed toner or flux is quite strong, it is difficult to remove them by the dry cleaning operation using the "flexible cleaner" described in Patent Documents 1 and 2.

The dry cleaning operation described in Patent Documents 3 and 4 can obtain an excellent cleaning effect even if the toner or the flux is firmly fixed to the cleaning target.

However, according to the dry cleaning operation described in Patent Document 3, the cleaning target is installed in the "closed cleaning bath", and the "flake cleaning body" is scattered to perform the cleaning operation. Therefore, the cleaning objects that can be cleaned are limited to those that can be installed in the cleaning bath.

In addition, according to the dry cleaning operation described in Patent Document 4, although the cleaning unit itself is somewhat small, there is a possibility that the cleaning device itself becomes large in size.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-188123 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-83567 Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2007-29945 Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2009-226394

The present invention can provide a novel dry cleaning apparatus capable of satisfactorily removing stains firmly fixed to a cleaning object, a dry cleaning method using a dry cleaning apparatus, and a dry cleaning housing used in a dry cleaning apparatus.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a dry cleaning housing for causing a cleaning medium to be scattered by airflow and bringing the cleaning medium into contact with the cleaning object for cleaning the cleaning object. The dry cleaning housing may include an internal space in which a cleaning medium is scattered; An opening configured to be in contact with the cleaning object to cause the cleaning medium to collide with the cleaning object; A ventilation path configured to supply air from the outside to the internal space; A suction port configured to suck air introduced into the interior space through the ventilation path to generate a rotary airflow inside the interior space; And a porous unit allowing the material removed from the cleaning object to pass through.

1 is a view for explaining a first embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus;
2A and 2B are diagrams illustrating a cleaning operation according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1;
3 is a view for explaining another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus;
4 is a view for explaining an example of the cleaning operation by the dry cleaning apparatus;
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a part related to the example of the cleaning operation shown in FIG. 4; FIG.
6 is a flow chart for explaining the process of the cleaning operation shown in FIGS. 4 and 5;
7 is a graph showing an example of the result obtained by measuring (flow rate of the inlet when the opening is opened) / (flow rate of the inlet when the opening is closed);
8 is a view for explaining another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus;
9 (a) to 9 (c) are views for explaining another embodiment of the dry cleaning apparatus;
10 (a) to 10 (c) are views for explaining another embodiment of the dry cleaning apparatus;
11 is a view for explaining another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus;
12 is a view for explaining another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus;
13 is a view for explaining another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus;
14a and 14b illustrate another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus;
15A and 15B are views showing a modification of the cleaning housing;
16 (a) and (b) are diagrams illustrating yet another embodiment of the dry cleaning apparatus;
17A and 17B show a state in which the attachment portion is removed from the opening;
18A to 18C are perspective views showing a modification of the intake port;
19 is a perspective view of an attachment portion attached to the opening;
20A to 20E are cross-sectional views of relevant parts showing the construction of corresponding attachment portions;
21A and 21B are views showing a state in which the angle of the air flow through the intake port is changed when the attachment portion shown in FIGS. 20C and 20D is used;
22A to 22D are schematic diagrams showing a pattern in which flaky cleaning medium comes into contact with a cleaning object; And,
23 is a graph showing the distribution of the mechanical properties of the corresponding cleaning medium.

Next, a description is given of embodiments of the present invention.

1 is a view for explaining a first embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 denotes a dry cleaning housing. The dry cleaning housing is hereinafter simply referred to as the "housing".

As is apparent from the top and bottom views of FIG. 1, the housing 10 is formed in such a way that the conical hollow bodies in opposite directions are joined to one another at the bottom. In the lower view of FIG. 1, the portion indicated by reference numeral 10A is referred to as "upper housing", and the portion indicated by reference numeral 10B is referred to as "lower housing". These markings are used for convenience and do not necessarily relate to the actual upper and lower directions.

The upper housing 10A and the lower housing 10B are integrally formed.

The material of the housing 10 is not particularly limited, but the housing 10 is preferably made of a metallic material such as "aluminum or stainless steel" in order to prevent abrasion due to the attachment of foreign material and friction with the cleaning medium. . Instead, the housing 10 may be formed by resin molding or the like using "resin".

Further, preferably, the inner surface of the housing 10 is smooth to reduce attenuation of the rotary airflow inside the housing 10, which is also applied in other embodiments described below.

Between the upper housing 10A and the lower housing 10B, a plate-like porous unit 10C is provided on the lower surface of the housings 10A, 10B. Hereinafter, the porous unit 10C is referred to as "separation plate 10C".

Inside the upper housing 10A, a cylindrical inner cylinder member 10D is provided as part of the housing 10 to use the conical axis of the upper housing 10A as the "common axis", and the inner cylinder member 10D in FIG. "Bottom" is in contact with the separator (10C).

The top of the lower housing 10B (lower in FIG. 1) is cylindrically open to form a “suction port” and is connected to the suction equipment 20A through the suction duct 20B.

The suction equipment 20A and the suction duct 20B constitute a "suction unit". As the suction equipment 20A, a vacuum motor, a vacuum pump, an object "low-pressure generated by an air stream or a water stream", or the like may be used in some cases.

The suction duct 20B may be a "fixed type that maintains its given shape" or a type that can arbitrarily fold the flow path.

The upper housing 10A has a " cylindrical shape " at a portion close to the lower surface, and the opening 10E is partially formed as a cylindrical portion. The opening 10E is a shape obtained by cutting a cylindrical portion in a "planar cross section parallel to the cylinder shaft", and is formed in a "rectangular shape".

In addition, the cylindrical portion is penetrated by the hollow cylinder 10F, and the hollow cylinder 10F is integrated with the upper housing 10A.

Hereinafter, the hollow cylinder 10F is called "suction opening 10F".

The inlet 10F is parallel to the separating plate 10C, has a longitudinal direction inclined with respect to the radial direction of the cylindrical portion of the upper housing 10A, and is substantially parallel to the tangent of the peripheral surface of the inner cylinder member 10D. Direction and has an outlet opening in the upper housing 10A to face the opening 10E.

In other words, the inside of the suction port 10F forms a "ventilation path".

In this embodiment, there is one intake port. However, it is also possible to arrange two or more suction ports depending on the shape and size of the housing.

The separating plate 10C is a "disc member such as a punching metal having such a hole" and to separate the inside of the upper housing 10A from the inside of the lower housing 10B as shown in the lower view of FIG. It is provided at the boundary between the lower housing 10B and the upper housing 10A.

The separator 10C is not limited to the above, but needs to be of a porous type having a "pore with a diameter that does not allow it to pass through the cleaning medium but passes through air and dust (stains separated from the object to be cleaned)". . The shape of the micropores is not limited to the circle and may be a slit. It is also possible to use a mesh plate as the separating plate 10C.

The separator 10C is only required to have a "smooth surface", and resins, metals, and the like may be appropriately selected as the material of the separator 10C.

In the top view of FIG. 1, reference numeral PC denotes a "cleaning piece on flakes", and the set of flake cleaning pieces PC forms a "cleaning medium".

Next, with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B, a description will be given of an operation (that is, a cleaning operation) of cleaning a cleaning object by the dry cleaning apparatus configured as described above.

2A and 2B, the top and bottom views show the dry cleaning apparatus described with reference to FIG. 1 in a manner similar to FIG. 1. FIG. 2B shows a state in which the suction unit performs a suction operation to the opened opening 10E, and FIG. 2A shows a state in which the opening 10E is closed by the front surface of the cleaning object CO.

Prior to the cleaning operation, the cleaning medium PC is held inside the upper housing 10A of the dry cleaning housing 10. For this purpose, a suitable amount of flaky cleaning piece PC can be taken into the upper housing 10A through the opening 10E formed in the upper housing 10A according to a suitable method.

For example, as shown in FIG. 2B, the suction equipment 20A is driven to suck air inside the housing from the side of the lower housing 10B through the suction duct 20B, thereby allowing the upper housing 10A. Let the pressure inside be negative. Thus, with the airflow AF generated by the negative pressure (upper view in FIG. 2B), the desired amount of cleaning piece PC is sucked into the upper housing 10A through the opening 10E and the "cleaning medium" is transferred to the upper housing. It is possible to take as (10A).

Thus, as shown in the lower view of FIG. 2B, the cleaning medium taken is sucked into the separating plate 10C serving as the porous unit and held inside the upper housing 10A.

Since the air inside the upper housing 10A is sucked by the suction unit, and the pressure inside the upper housing 10A becomes negative, air outside the housing flows into the upper housing 10A through the intake port 10F. . However, at this time, the air flowing in the intake port 10F is small in terms of flow rate and flow rate. Thus, the rotary airflow RF generated inside the housing does not have "power enough to cause the cleaning medium to scatter."

The flake-like cleaning piece PC sucked into the upper housing 10A is attached to the separating plate 10C as described above, and closes the hole of the separating plate 10C. Thus, as the amount of the suctioned washing piece PC increases, the " total area of the hole allowing air to pass through " of the separating plate 10C gradually decreases, thereby reducing the suction force.

Therefore, when the predetermined amount of cleaning piece PC is sucked into the upper housing 10A, the suction operation of the cleaning piece PC is substantially stopped.

Thus, the cleaning piece PC is sucked into the upper housing 10A in accordance with the suction performance of the suction unit and held there as a "cleaning medium".

In the case where the cleaning medium is kept inside the upper housing 10A as described above, the front surface of the cleaning object CO (the front surface to be cleaned and the "stain" is attached) is the upper housing 10A as shown in FIG. 2A. In close contact with the opening 10E.

When the opening 10E is closed by the front surface of the cleaning object CO, the suction operation through the opening 10E is stopped. Therefore, the negative pressure inside the upper housing 10A is rapidly increased, the flow rate and flow rate of the air sucked into the upper housing 10A through the inlet port 10F is increased, and the air is straightened inside the inlet port 10F, As a strong air flow, it is blown to the upper housing 10A through the outlet of the inlet 10F.

The blown airflow causes the cleaning piece PC held on the separating plate 10C to scatter toward the "front surface of the cleaning object CO which closes the opening 10E."

The airflow flows circularly along the inner wall of the upper housing 10A as the rotary airflow RF, and part of it is sucked by the suction unit through the hole of the separating plate 10C.

When the rotary airflow RF flowing circularly inside the upper housing 10A as described above returns to the outlet of the inlet 10F, it enters the upper housing 10A through the inlet 10F and from the outlet of the inlet. The blown airflow "is combined with the rotary airflow RF to accelerate. Thus, a "stable rotary airflow RF" is created inside the upper housing 10A.

The cleaning piece PC serving as the cleaning medium is rotated inside the upper housing 10A by the rotary airflow, and repeatedly comes into contact with the front surface (stain) of the object to be cleaned. Because of the influence by the collision between the cleaning piece PC and the front surface of the cleaning object CO, the stain is separated from the front surface of the cleaning object CO as "fine particles or powder".

The separated stain is discharged by the suction unit to the outside of the dry cleaning housing 10 through the hole of the separating plate 10C.

The rotary airflow RF generated inside the upper housing 10A has a rotating shaft orthogonal to the front surface (surface on the upper housing 10A side) of the separating plate 10C, and the rotating airflow RF is the separating plate 10C. ) Flows in a direction parallel to the front.

Thus, the rotary airflow RF is laterally blown to the cleaning piece PC "sucked onto the front side of the separating plate" and penetrated between the cleaning piece PC and the separating plate 10C, which is the separation plate 10C. The cleaning piece PC sucked onto the sheet) is separated from the separating plate 10C and scattered again.

In addition, when the opening 10E is closed, the sound pressure inside the upper housing 10A is increased to approach the sound pressure inside the lower housing 10B, which is the cleaning piece PC on the front surface of the separating plate 10C. ), The force for sucking up is reduced, providing the effect that the cleaning piece PC is more easily scattered.

This effect is called the "cleaning medium inhalation and scattering effect".

The rotary airflow RF is accelerated in a predetermined direction. Therefore, the high speed airflow is easily generated, and the high speed movement of the cleaning piece PC becomes easy. In addition, the rotary airflow is circulated several times inside the upper housing until sucked by the porous unit. Thus, according to the airflow simulation, it has been found that the flow rate of the rotary airflow reaches 5 to 6 times the flow rate of the air flowing through the ventilation path. Because of the large flow rate, it is possible to allow larger amounts of cleaning medium to be scattered. The cleaning piece PC that rotates and moves at high speed cannot be easily sucked onto the separating plate 10C, and the stain attached to the cleaning piece PC is easily separated from the cleaning piece PC by centrifugal force.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the dry cleaning apparatus in a manner similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, where parts which may not cause confusion are denoted by the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 to avoid complicated description.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, the dry cleaning housing 30 has an integrally formed upper housing 30A and lower housing 30B, a separator plate 30C serving as a porous unit, and a suction port 30F.

In this embodiment, the lower housing 30B of the dry cleaning housing 30 has a "conical funnel shape" similar to the lower housing 10B of the dry cleaning housing 10 shown in FIG. 1, and the lower housing 30B The bottom of the opening is cylindrically open to form a "suction port" and is sucked into the suction equipment 20A through the suction duct 20B. The suction equipment 20A and the suction duct 20B constitute a "suction unit".

The upper housing 30A has a cylindrical shape, and the opening 30E is formed on the peripheral surface of this cylindrical shape. Inside the upper housing 30A, the cylindrical inner cylinder member 30D is provided as part of the housing 30 with the cylindrical axis of the upper housing 30A being the "common axis" and the "lower" of the inner cylinder member 30D. Is in contact with the separator 30C.

The separator 30C is similar to the separator 10C of the embodiment shown in FIG.

The upper housing 30A is penetrated by the inlet port 30F serving as the ventilation path, and the inlet port 30F is integrated with the upper housing 30A.

The inlet port 30F is similar to the inlet port 10F of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and is parallel to the separating plate 30C, has a longitudinal direction inclined with respect to the radial direction of the upper housing 30A, and has an inner cylinder member ( It has a direction substantially parallel to the tangent of the peripheral surface of 30D) and has an outlet portion open to the upper housing 30A so as to face the opening 30E.

In this embodiment shown in Fig. 3, there is one suction port. However, it is also possible to arrange two or more suction ports depending on the shape and size of the housing.

In a manner similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the suction equipment 20A is driven to suck the cleaning piece PC into the upper housing 30A. Therefore, when the opening 30E is closed by the front surface of the cleaning object (not shown) after the cleaning medium is maintained inside the upper housing 30A, the rotary airflow is caused by the external air taken through the intake port 30F. Created inside 30A, the cleaning piece PC of the cleaning medium is scattered in a manner similar to the embodiment shown in FIG. Thus, the cleaning operation is performed in a similar manner as described above.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 differ in the shape of the upper housing constituting the dry cleaning housing of the dry cleaning apparatus, respectively.

The upper housing 10A of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 has a conical shape, while the upper housing 30A of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3 has a cylindrical shape. In each case, a "stable rotary airflow" can be created inside the upper housing.

In the case of the upper housing 10A having the " conical shape " of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the rotary airflow is created parallel to the separator 10C. At this time, "air stagnation" is generated in a portion near the top of the conical inner space, which serves as a cushion and stabilizes the rotary airflow in the portion near the front of the separating plate 10A.

In addition, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the inner cylinder members 10D, 30D are provided in the upper housing. The inner cylinder member has the function of reducing the "cross-sectional area as air flow" of the rotary airflow in the upper housing, and increases the flow velocity of the rotary airflow when the cross-sectional area is reduced.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a cleaning operation by the dry cleaning apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

The cleaning target is a "deep pallet" used in the above-described "flow soldering bath process", and is indicated by the reference numeral 100.

The dip palette 100 has mask openings 101, 102, 103, and the flux FL is attached and cured around the periphery of the hole in the mask opening. The adhered and cured flux FL is the "stain" to be removed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the operator maintains a connection between the lower housing 10B of the dry cleaning housing and the suction duct 20B with his hand HD, and the upper side with respect to the “area to be cleaned” in the suction state. Press opening 10E of housing 10A.

Before the opening 10E is pressed against the area to be cleaned, the upper housing 10A is sucked in, and the cleaning piece PC of the cleaning medium is sucked onto the separating plate 10C. Therefore, even if the opening 10E is directed downward as shown in Fig. 4, the cleaning piece PC inside the upper housing 10A never leaks out. It goes without saying that after the opening 10E is pressed against the area to be cleaned, the housing is hermetically sealed and therefore the cleaning medium never leaks.

When the opening 10E is pressed against the area to be cleaned, the air flow introduced through the intake port 10F is rapidly increased. Then, a strong rotary airflow RF is generated inside the upper housing 10A, and the cleaning piece PC sucked onto the separator plate 10C is scattered, adheres and hardens in the area to be cleaned of the dip pallet 100. Is in contact with the flux (FL). Thus, the flux FL is removed.

The operator holds the housing 10 with his hand HD as described above and moves it continuously relative to the dip pallet 100 to completely remove the attached and cured flux FL.

In the state shown in FIG. 4, the periphery of the mask opening 101 of the dip palette 100 is cleaned while the periphery of the mask 102 is cleaned.

Even when the operator moves the opening relative to the area to be cleaned, even if the "opening is far from the area to be cleaned", it never leaks out of the housing due to the "cleaning medium suction and scattering effect" described above. Therefore, the amount of cleaning pieces PC constituting the cleaning medium is maintained so that deterioration in cleaning performance due to the decrease in the amount of the cleaning medium never occurs.

While it is desirable to improve the "adhesion of the opening 10E to the area to be cleaned", it is not possible to completely close the mask opening and the peripheral end of the dip palette 100 in the case shown in FIG.

In this case, a sheet 150 made of a "flexible and rough" material such as vinyl chloride and rubber is placed on the back of the dip pallet 100 as shown in FIG. 5, and the housing of the "deep pallet 100" It is arranged around the mask opening of the dip palette 100 to close the mask opening ". Thus, the "efficiency of cleaning the flux FL" can be further improved.

As a result, when cleaning the "ends adjacent to the mask opening" of the area to be cleaned, the flexible sheet 150 is deformed by the suction operation of the housing, and the opening 10E of the housing is closed. Therefore, the airtightness inside a housing improves and the washing | cleaning piece PC of a cleaning medium is accelerated efficiently. As a result, the area to be cleaned can be cleaned satisfactorily.

If a seal member 10G such as rubber is provided around the opening 10E, the airtightness inside the housing can be further improved.

The cleaning medium is progressively broken by "impacts generated when the cleaning medium comes into contact with the area to be cleaned" during repeated use, and the suction unit of the suction unit together with the flux (stain) removed from the area to be cleaned ( Inhaled and collected by 20A). Thus, if the dry cleaning apparatus is used for a long time, the amount of cleaning medium retained inside the housing is reduced.

In this case, the operator takes the opening 10E close to a new group of cleaning pieces for suction and replenishes it in the housing. At this time, only the cleaning piece in an amount that can be sucked onto the separating plate 10C is sucked. Thus, a suitable amount of cleaning piece is sucked in and replenishment of the cleaning medium is easily performed.

6 is a flow chart showing the procedure of the cleaning operation described above.

In the flow chart, the "suction machine operation" step indicates the operation of the suction equipment 20A, and the "suction medium suction for refilling" step shows that the cleaning piece PC constituting the cleaning medium is sucked into the upper housing 10A. Indicates supplementary. In addition, the "cleaning object" shows a cleaning object.

The "move opening away from the cleaning object" step is performed when the area to be cleaned is changed or the cleaning operation is completed, and the suction machine is stopped when "cleaning completion", that is, the cleaning operation is completed.

If "cleaning is not complete", "residue of cleaning medium" is identified. If the residue is "inadequate", a "suction cleaning medium for replenishment" step is performed. On the other hand, if the residue is sufficient, the opening of the housing is moved to the "next cleaning target", that is, the area to be cleaned.

In the above-described embodiment, during the period in which the rotary airflow is generated, only "air introduced through the intake port" flows, and the flow rate is reduced in comparison with the opening state. Thus, for long term continuous operation, the inhalation equipment 20A is overloaded, which may result in "seizure" or the like in the inhalation equipment 20A.

In order to avoid this problem, it is desirable to provide a "safety valve for releasing the lower housing and the duct with air" when the reduced negative pressure state inside the housing is maintained for a predetermined time or more.

In addition, if the cleaning medium is "a kind which can block the separation plate", it is preferable to form a fine convex portion on the front surface of the separation plate so as to form a gap between the cleaning piece and the separation plate to facilitate blowing into the gap of the rotary airflow. Efficient Therefore, the scattering of the cleaning piece PC becomes easier.

As described above, in the dry cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, "when the opening of the housing is opened, the cleaning piece constituting the cleaning medium is sucked onto the separation plate by the differential pressure between both sides of the separation plate, and the opening is closed. Phenomenon that the cleaning piece is scattered when being used.

The effect of causing this phenomenon is called the "cleaning medium suction and scattering effect" as described above, and this effect is noticeable when the flow rate of the suction port is small when the opening is opened and the flow rate of the suction port is large when the opening is closed.

If the suction flow rate by the suction equipment 20A is changed and the flow rate of the suction port (the amount of air flowing through the ventilation path inside the suction port) is measured both when the opening is opened and when the opening is closed, It has been found that "the flow rate of the inlet when the opening is open is proportional to the flow rate of the inlet when the opening is closed."

Therefore, as the parameter "(flow rate of the inlet when the opening is opened) / (flow rate of the inlet when the opening is closed)" becomes smaller, that is, the opening to the flow rate of the inlet opening when the opening is closed is opened. The smaller the flow rate of the suction port at the time, the easier the high cleaning medium suction and scattering effect can be obtained.

7 shows that the area of the opening (shown in the horizontal axis and expressed in units of mm 2) and the cross-sectional area of the intake opening ({(inner diameter of the intake opening / 2) ² ) are changed (parameter " flow rate of the intake opening when the opening is opened) / (The flow rate of the inlet when the opening is closed) (indicated by the "inlet flow rate ratio (opening / opening opening)" shown in the vertical axis in FIG. 7) "of the result obtained when Some examples are shown.

The broken lines 7-1, 7-2 and 7-3 in Fig. 7 show the calculation results when the inner diameters of the suction ports are 7 mm (φ 7), 10 mm (φ 10) and 14 mm (φ 14), respectively.

The above-described "(flow rate of the inlet when the opening is opened) / (flow rate of the air when the opening is closed)" is described in "flow rate of the air when the opening is opened / opening is closed" described in FIG. Can easily be recognized.

Experimentally, a sufficient "cleaning medium suction and scattering effect" has an opening area of 350 mm 2 or more and "(flow rate of inlet when the opening is opened) / (flow rate of air when the opening is closed)" is at least 0.25 It has now been found that it is obtained when more preferably 0.1 or less.

By extrapolation of the graph shown in FIG. 7, when the opening area is 600 mm 2 or more, when the opening is opened, the "flow rate of air flowing through the inlet becomes substantially zero", and leakage of the cleaning medium from the opening is never achieved. It can be seen that it does not occur.

However, this example has the premise of using suction equipment having a maximum suction flow rate of 2000 L / min and a maximum differential pressure of approximately 20 Kpa. The values in the graph vary depending on the performance of the suction equipment and the dry cleaning unit.

It can be seen from the results of FIG. 7 that the ratio of the flow rate of the inlet port to the flow rate of the inlet port when the opening is closed depends greatly on the opening area of the housing, but not largely on the cross-sectional area of the inlet port.

This is because "the internal pressure of the housing when the opening is opened is determined irrespective of the cross-sectional area of the ventilation path of the intake opening which increases at the opening of the housing".

With an increase in the opening, the internal pressure of the housing quickly approaches the atmospheric pressure at which the opening opens. Then, as the internal pressure approaches atmospheric pressure, the pressure difference between the inlet and outlet of the inlet decreases, the amount of air flowing into the inlet decreases, and the force for accelerating and scattering the cleaning medium is reduced. As a result, "the leakage of the cleaning medium from the opening hardly occurs".

In other words, the "cleaning medium suction and scattering effect" means that the internal pressure of the housing at the outlet (in the interior of the housing) of the inlet is "equal to or close to atmospheric pressure" when the opening is opened. It is efficiently obtained on the premise that the opening has an area that allows the positional relationship between and the outlet of the suction port to be established.

In the embodiment described with reference to Fig. 1, it was confirmed that the "cleaning medium suction and scattering effect" was observed with an opening area of 350 mm 2 or more and a pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet of the inlet being 2 Kpa or less. .

If the dry cleaning apparatus is designed to satisfy this relationship, the "cleaning medium suction and scattering effect is easily obtained". Even a simpler dry cleaning apparatus with a shape that does not have the "inner cylinder member 10D" according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 can be used as the cleaning equipment by obtaining a similar cleaning medium suction and scattering effect.

8 illustrates this case.

The dry cleaning housing, indicated at 40, has a configuration similar to the dry cleaning housing shown in FIG. 1, except that it does not have an inner cylinder member.

Reference numeral 40A denotes an upper housing, reference numeral 40B denotes a lower housing, and reference numeral 40C denotes a separating plate. Reference numeral 40F denotes a suction port constituting the ventilation path. Reference numeral 20A denotes suction equipment and reference numeral 20B denotes a duct. Reference numeral 40E denotes an opening, and reference numeral PC denotes a cleaning piece.

The cleaning operation of the dry cleaning housing is similar to the embodiment of the dry cleaning housing with reference to FIG. 1.

The foregoing description refers to the case of a dry cleaning housing each having a conical shape and a cylindrical shape as a rotating body shape. However, the shape of the dry cleaning housing is not limited to these. For example, even in elliptical columnar or polygonal columnar shapes, rotary airflow can be created along the direction of the ventilation path of the inlet. Thus, a dry cleaning housing having such a shape can also be implemented.

It is preferable that the flow path of the rotary airflow is smooth, not stagnant, and has small fluctuations in the cross-sectional area and cross-sectional shape of the flow path in view of "small energy loss".

9 (a) to 9 (c) show another embodiment of a dry cleaning housing.

FIG. 9A shows the dry cleaning housing as seen from its opening, and FIG. 9C shows a cross section of the dry cleaning housing taken along the line BB ′ in FIG. 9A. 9B shows a cross section of the dry cleaning housing taken along line A-A 'in FIG. 9A.

The housing 90 is composed of an upper housing 90A and a lower housing 90B each having a conical trapezoidal shape.

In this example, the ventilation path 90F is formed to be part of the upper housing 90A as the internal structure of the upper housing 90A. In other words, as shown in the cross section of FIG. 9B, the upper housing 90A has internal structures 90e and 90f therein, and the ventilation path 90F has internal structures 90e and 90f. Is formed by. Reference numeral 90D denotes a cylindrical inner cylinder member.

Although the shape of the cross section of the ventilation path 90F is not specifically limited, In this example, it is "a rectangular shape." The outlet portion of the ventilation path 90F is provided closer to the opening 9E as compared with the case of the intake port 10F shown in FIG.

The opening 90E has a substantially wide open area of " 600 mm 2 or more, and causes the internal pressure at the outlet of the ventilation path 90F to be rapidly reduced to atmospheric pressure when the opening 90E is opened.

In this embodiment, the internal structures 90e and 90f constituting the ventilation path 90F have a "smooth surface shape" as shown in Fig. 9B. Thus, the portion forming the ventilation path 90F does not disturb the flow of the rotary airflow RF and the scattering of the cleaning medium.

This provides an efficient reduction of the cleaning medium accumulation and facilitates high speed rotation of the cleaning medium. As a result, high speed cleaning performance can be obtained.

It is also possible to arrange the outlet of the airflow introduced near the opening 90E without disturbing the circulation of the rotary airflow RF.

As described above, with the arrangement of the "outlet of the airflow" introduced through the ventilation path 90F near the opening 90E, the static pressure near the outlet of the airflow is close to atmospheric pressure when the opening is opened, and the ventilation The airflow flowing through the path 90F is significantly reduced. This provides the effect that the cleaning medium “nearly leaks” when the opening is opened.

In Figs. 9A to 9C, reference numeral 90G denotes a seal member such as rubber provided around the opening 90E.

10 shows another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus.

10A is an "external perspective view".

The dry cleaning apparatus, indicated by reference numeral 100A, has a "cylindrical shape".

FIG. 10B shows the state of "cross section at the surface orthogonal to the cylindrical shaft" of the cleaning housing 100A, and FIG. 10C shows the line A-A in FIG. 10B. Cross section of the cleaning housing 100A taken along.

In this example, both ends of the cleaning housing 100A in the cylinder axial direction have a "funnel shape", the funnel-shaped tip ends form a "suction port", and both tip ends connect the ducts 200B1 and 200B2. Through the common suction equipment 200A.

The housing has an internal cylinder member 200D therein and separation plates 200C1 and 200C2 that serve as porous units at both ends in the axial direction.

The housing 100A also has a plurality of suction ports 200F1, 200F2, ..., 2000Fi serving as ventilation paths so as to be close to each other in the cylinder axial direction of the cylinder in the cylindrical portion of the housing 100A. The ventilation path including the intake port 200Fi and the like has a ventilation path outlet along the production line of the cylinder at the side of the cylindrical housing.

With the arrangement of the separator plates 200C1 and 200C2 serving as the porous units at both ends of the housing, the suction operation of the suction equipment is performed efficiently. In addition, considering the situation in which the cleaning medium is scattered on both ends of the housing, it is possible to further increase the area of the opening 200E and to uniformly clean the area to be cleaned in a larger area.

In the case of the vertically long opening 200E, the cleaning medium is likely to leak at the position of the opening 200E away from the separating plates 200C1 and 200C2. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 10 (b), the openings of the outlet portions of the ventilation paths of the plurality of integrated suction inlets 200F1, 200F2, ..., 200Fi are reliably obtained to reliably obtain the cleaning medium suction and scattering effects. It is more efficient to place it near 200E).

10 (a) to 10 (c), the suction ducts are respectively connected to the suction ports at the funnel-shaped tip ends forming both ends in the cylinder axial direction of the cleaning housing 100A. However, when the cleaning housing 100A is formed so that the cylinder member 200D becomes hollow, the funnel-shaped tip ends communicate with each other, and one of the suction ports at the funnel-shaped tip end is closed, the housing is separated from the separator plate ( Through a single suction duct from both ends of the housing via 200C1, 200C2. Thus, a similar effect can be obtained.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 15A, a cleaning housing may be formed such that the porous unit is cylindrically drawn into the housing to remove the funnel-shaped protrusion. As a result, interference by the funnel-shaped protrusions is prevented.

11 shows another embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus.

The embodiment described above with reference to FIG. 4 refers to the case where the operator performs a cleaning operation while holding the cleaning housing with his hand. However, according to the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the dry cleaning housing is held by a linear motor or robot, moving along a previously programmed track, whereby a "full automatic dry cleaning operation" can be performed.

Since the dry cleaning housing 10 suction equipment 20A and the suction duct 20B are similar to those shown in FIG. 1, they are denoted by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. 1.

The dry cleaning housing 10 is fixed to the XY orthogonal robot 110B by the spring member 110A and can be moved to follow the irregularity of the dip pallet 100. The dry cleaning housing 10 may further have a shaft movable in the pressing direction.

A control unit (not shown) for controlling the spring member 110A, the XY Cartesian robot 110B, and the XY Cartesian robot 110B serves as a "position and attitude control unit" part.

The dry cleaning housing 10 has a roller unit (not shown) around its opening so that it can be easily moved on the front side of the pallet in contact. The roller unit also serves as part of the position and attitude control unit.

The cleaning medium supply unit 114 is disposed within the moving range of the dry cleaning housing 10.

The deep pallet 100 to be cleaned is fixed to the support plate 116 in a "vertical upright state" as shown in FIG. 11, and the sheet 150 made of rubber for preventing leakage of the cleaning medium is supported on the support plate 116. It is arranged at the rear side of the pallet 100 to hang from.

With the placement of the dip pallet 100 in an upright state, the cleaning space can be removed. However, even if the dip palette 100 is arranged horizontally, the function of the dip palette 100 is not degraded.

The XY orthogonal robot 110B and the suction equipment 20A are controlled by a control unit (computer or CPU unit) (not shown).

Upon receiving the instruction to start the cleaning operation, the control unit operates the suction equipment 20A and simultaneously drives and controls the XY orthogonal robot 110B to move the dry cleaning housing 10 to the area to be cleaned.

The dry cleaning housing 10 in which the opening 10E is pressed against the front surface of the deep pallet 110 as the object to be cleaned by the spring member 110A cleans the front surface of the deep pallet 100 in the same manner as described above. Remove (FL).

In this state, the XY Cartesian Robot 110B is driven and controlled to scan the area to be cleaned. Thus, "all areas to be cleaned" on the dip palette 100 are cleaned.

At the end of the mask opening of the dip pallet 100 and the mask opening, the airtightness at the opening 10E of the dry cleaning housing 10 is maintained by the sheet 150 disposed on the rear side of the dip pallet 100. As a result, the dry cleaning apparatus can satisfactorily perform the cleaning operation.

According to the control program for the XY orthogonal robot 110B, the dry cleaning housing 10 can be moved while bypassing a portion in which the cleaning operation such as the opening of the deep pallet 100 is not required. As a result, the time required to perform the cleaning operation can be reduced, and the consumption of the cleaning medium can be reduced.

Note that as a control program for the cleaning process, a "program for periodically refilling the cleaning medium by periodically moving the dry cleaning housing 10 to the cleaning medium supply unit 114" may be provided.

When the opening of the dry cleaning housing 10 comes close to the cleaning medium supply unit 114 by the suction force of the suction equipment 20A, the cleaning medium PC may be sucked into the dry cleaning housing 10 for replenishment. .

The cleaning medium supply unit 114 maintains the cleaning medium PC in a suitable amount and replenishes it according to the replenishment amount. The replenishment of the cleaning medium PC does not require a particularly complicated structure, and the cleaning medium supply unit 114 causes the " quantity of cleaning medium PC " to drop from the reservoir 114B in which the cleaning medium PC is accumulated. Need only things.

As a result of constant replenishment of the cleaning medium PC, reliable cleaning performance can be maintained for a long time.

In this embodiment, the cleaning operation is performed on the flat dip pallet 00 serving as the cleaning target. However, if "vertical articulated robot with six or more degrees of freedom" is used as the robot for holding the dry cleaning housing, and the position and attitude of the housing are controlled to move the housing along a specific movement track, then "three-dimensional and complex" Dry cleaning apparatus for performing a fully automatic cleaning operation on a cleaning object having a "shape" can be realized.

12 shows only the characteristics of an embodiment of a dry cleaning apparatus having a mechanism capable of controlling the opening and closing of a ventilation path.

The dry cleaning apparatus is based on the embodiment described with reference to FIG. 1, and portions which may not cause confusion are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of FIG. 1.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 12, an inlet opening / closing unit 10FO for opening and closing the ventilation path is provided at the suction port 10F constituting the ventilation path.

As shown in FIG. 13, the inlet opening / closing unit 10FO is specifically a shielding plate 10S connected to the motor 10M. The opening and closing operation of the motor 10M is controlled by a control unit (not shown). When the opening 10E is opened, the motor 10M causes the shield plate 10S to shield the ventilation path of the intake port 10F in order to control the ventilation of the airflow.

As shown in FIG. 14B, if the ventilation path of the inlet 10F is closed by the inlet opening / closing unit 10FO when the opening 10E is opened, even weaker rotary airflow does not occur. As a result, it is possible to reliably suck the cleaning medium PC onto the separator 10C and prevent leakage of the cleaning medium PC.

Also, as shown in Fig. 14A, the opening and closing mechanism has another effect. Specifically, when the ventilation path of the intake port 10F is shielded in the cleaning operation, the upper housing 10A is sucked in, the pressure difference between the upper housing 10A and the lower housing 10B becomes small, and the cleaning medium PC Force on the separating plate 10C is significantly reduced. Therefore, when the suction port 10F is opened again, the cleaning medium PC is easily scattered.

Therefore, by periodically opening and closing the inlet 10F during the cleaning operation, it is possible to reduce the accumulation of the cleaning medium PC on the separator 10C, and to maintain high cleaning performance with improved scattering efficiency of the cleaning medium PC. It is possible.

As mentioned above, the opening and closing of the suction port is based on the motor and the control unit. However, the inlet can be actively opened and closed by a relief valve-like structure depending on the pressure inside the housing, or the opening and closing mechanism can be configured to be detached from the body.

16 shows another embodiment of a cleaning housing. This embodiment is characterized in that the intake port is shaped to have a non-uniform cross-sectional area. In other words, the inlet portion of the suction port opened to atmospheric pressure is enlarged. As a property of the fluid, if the air inlet inlet of the inlet which is open to the air is roughly cut off, a vortex is generated near the inlet which causes a large pressure loss.

If the pressure loss at the inlet is too large, the airflow is not satisfactorily sucked from the inlet when the suction equipment with low suction performance is connected to the cleaning housing. As a result, the rotary airflow becomes weak and the cleaning performance deteriorates. In order to prevent this problem, it is known to use a tapered technique to facilitate the intake of air and reduce the pressure loss of the intake port for intake of air.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16A, the cross-sectional area of the intake port 50F is designed to enlarge toward the periphery of the cleaning housing 50. This design allows for efficient use of the space between the cleaning housing and the inlet and does not affect the overall size of the cleaning housing.

In this embodiment, the inlet of the suction port is tapered as shown in Figs. 16A and 18A. However, as shown in Figs. 18B and 18C, if the inlet is provided with a hood or a flange at the inlet, the occurrence of vortex and the pressure loss of the inlet are reduced.

In addition, it is desirable to further increase the area of the opening 50E together with the reduction of the pressure loss of the intake port. Thus, a large amount of airflow flows out of the opening when the opening is opened, whereby the pressure inside the cleaning housing is close to atmospheric pressure. On the other hand, the airflow flowing through the suction port is reduced. Thus, no rotary airflow occurs in the cleaning housing. At this time, the cleaning medium is not scattered because it is sucked onto the porous unit. As a result, a predetermined amount of cleaning medium can be maintained inside the cleaning housing.

In this embodiment, the inner cylinder member 50D disposed at the center of the cleaning housing 50 is formed in a hollow shape and connected to the suction equipment, and the side surface of the inner cylinder member 50D is composed of the porous unit 50C. . Since the side of the inner cylinder member 50D is parallel to the rotary airflow, the cleaning medium can be scattered again by the rotary airflow even if sucked onto the side. Thus, cleaning medium suction and scattering effects are obtained under this arrangement of the porous unit.

As described above, when the area of the porous unit 50C is large, it is possible to reduce the pressure loss by the porous unit 50, and to realize a mechanism having a low overall pressure and not burdening the suction equipment.

Further, in this embodiment, the cleaning housing is configured such that the attachment portion is attached to the opening of the cleaning housing in order to improve local fitting performance and followability with respect to the front surface of the cleaning object.

As shown in FIGS. 16B and 17B, an edge 60 serving as a fitting unit projecting in the horizontal direction in FIGS. 16B and 17B is provided in the opening 50E of the cleaning housing. . Attachment 62A is attached to the opening in a manner that fits to edge 60. As shown in FIG. 19, the attachment portion 62A has a groove 64 having a U-shaped cross section that slides to the edge 60. The fitting structure using the concave portion and the convex portion is in a relative relationship. In other words, the cleaning housing can be configured such that the recess is formed in the opening.

When the attaching portion 62A is inserted in the direction parallel to the opening 50E so that the recessed portion and the convex portion are fitted to each other, the attaching portion 62A has a lower surface of the attaching portion 62A (the upper portion of FIG. 19). In alignment with the opening at the end). More preferably, the portions to which the recesses and the convex portions are fitted to each other are tapered to be fixed to the attaching portion 62A. In this embodiment, a connection by fitting grooves and edges together is used. However, in order to secure the attachment portion 62A, a coupling using a hooking mechanism, an adhesive, a magnet, a Velcro (registered trademark), or the like may be used.

20A-20E schematically illustrate cross-sectional views of various attachments. 20A to 20E are cross-sectional views taken along the line A-A 'of FIG. 19, and cross-sectional views on the left side are taken along the line B-B' of FIG.

19 and 20A show a “low interference attachment portion” which reduces interference (contact area) with other portions on the front surface of the cleaning object.

The low interference attachment portion 62A is formed in a tapered hollow trapezoid and has a lower surface corresponding to the opening. Further, the low interference attachment portion 62A is designed such that when the low interference attachment portion 62A is attached to the cleaning housing, the trapezoidal tip end is positioned in the extension in the direction of the suction port.

When the tip end of the attachment comes in contact with the cleaning object and is closed, a rotary airflow is generated inside the cleaning housing by the airflow flowing through the suction port, and the cleaning medium is scattered. The cleaning medium accelerated by the airflow flowing through the suction port is collided with the cleaning object through the tip end of the low interference attachment portion 62A, which is linearly scattered by the inertia force and the opening area is reduced, thereby removing foreign matter. After removal of the foreign matter, the cleaning medium is reflected by the cleaning object and returned to the cleaning housing. The cleaning medium is then circulated again. By installing the attachment portion 62A in the cleaning housing, it is possible to bring the cleaning housing into contact with a narrower area without interfering with the cleaning object.

If the object to be cleaned has a shape that is not flat, an irregularly shaped matching attachment that can be attached to the shape can be used. 20B shows an attachment portion 62B in which a semicircular cut portion 66 is made on the side of the square cylinder as an example of an irregular shape matching attachment portion. With this attachment of the attachment to the opening of the cleaning housing, the cleaning housing is brought into close contact with the side of the cleaning object having a cylindrical shape, the pressure inside the housing is set negatively to generate a rotary airflow, and the cleaning medium is scattered. The cleaning operation can be performed in such a manner as to come into contact with (the collisional contact with) the side of the cleaning object having the cylindrical shape.

The above is referred to the example corresponding to the cleaning object in which the attachment portion has a cylindrical shape. However, if the attachment portion is designed to match the shape of the cleaning object, it is possible to correspond to the cleaning object having various shapes.

Depending on the object to be cleaned and the object to be removed, the cleaning quality can be improved by adjusting the collision angle of the cleaning piece.

20C and 20D show the angle of incidence attaching portions 1 and 2 to the cleaning object.

With the angle of incidence attaching portion 62C shown in FIG. 20C, the angle θ1 of the air flow through the inlet 50F for the cleaning object CO without the attachment portion installed may be changed to the angle θ2 as shown in FIG. 21A. have. That is, the angle of the airflow through the suction port 50F with respect to the cleaning object is easily changed without requiring any operation for adjusting the angle of the airflow in the horizontal direction only by pressing the tip end face of the attachment portion with respect to the cleaning object. Can be.

With the angle of incidence attaching portion 62D shown in FIG. 20D, the angle θ1 of the air flow through the inlet 50F for the cleaning object CO without the attachment portion installed may be changed to the angle θ3 as shown in FIG. 21B. have. That is, the angle of the airflow through the suction port 50F with respect to the cleaning object is easily changed without requiring any operation for adjusting the angle of the airflow in the vertical direction only by pressing the tip end face of the attachment portion with respect to the cleaning object. Can be.

The cleaning medium is scattered in the direction of the airflow flowing through the suction port. Thus, when the attachment portion having a predetermined angle can be used to change the angle of the airflow flowing through the suction port for the cleaning object, the collision angle of the cleaning medium with respect to the cleaning object can be changed.

When the incident angle changing attachment portion 62C is used, the cleaning medium comes into contact with the cleaning object at a shallow angle. Therefore, the impact in the direction orthogonal to the cleaning object is reduced, and the cleaning medium comes into contact with the cleaning object at its surface rather than at its edges. As a result, it is possible to remove foreign substances without damaging the cleaning object.

On the other hand, when the incident angle changing attachment part 62D is used, the impact in the direction orthogonal to the cleaning object is increased. As a result, it is possible to remove stains such as a firm film. Therefore, it is possible to apply the cleaning housing to a wide range of cleaning operations if the attachment portion is used properly according to the stain and the characteristics of the cleaning object.

In this embodiment, the attachment portion is used to change the incident angle of the cleaning medium with respect to the cleaning object. However, a similar effect can be obtained if the angle of the intake port itself is changed by the movable portion provided in the engagement portion between the intake port and the cleaning housing.

Depending on the shape of the attachment, a rotary airflow can be created inside the cleaning housing by the airflow sucked from the opening. In particular, in the case where the cleaning air produces a rotating air stream that rotates in the opposite direction to the rotating air stream, the cleaning piece is scattered toward the outlet of the ventilation path of the suction port. Thus, the cleaning piece can flow back through the suction port and leak out of the housing.

To prevent this problem, if a leakage preventing member (mesh cover) having a low air resistance such as an open metal mesh is provided at any place inside the ventilation path of the intake port, backflow of the cleaning piece can be prevented. As a result, the operability of the cleaning operation is improved.

In this embodiment, the mesh cover 70 is provided at the inlet of the inlet 50F as shown in Fig. 16A.

If a flexible member is provided at the tip ends of the various attachments that come into contact with the cleaning object, it is possible to bring the various attachments into contact with the cleaning object with no space in between. Attachment of the attachment portion to the cleaning object provides the effect of hardly leaking the cleaning pieces. In addition, since the sound pressure inside the housing is increased, a faster air flow flows from the intake port, and a strong rotary airflow machine is obtained. As a result, the cleaning performance of the cleaning housing is improved.

Attachment 62 itself may be made of a rough, flexible material such as urethane rubber.

20E shows the cover attachment part 62E when the cleaning operation is completed or the cleaning housing is not used. The cover attachment part 62E is a plate-shaped member which does not have a hole. During operation of the suction equipment, the cleaning medium is sucked onto the porous unit. Thus, the cleaning medium never leaks out of the cleaning housing even if the opening of the cleaning housing is directed downward. However, when the suction equipment is stopped, the cleaning medium is freed from its suction state and can therefore fall out of the opening.

In order to solve this problem, if the cover attachment portion 62E is attached to the opening when the suction equipment is stopped, preventing the leakage of the cleaning medium is prevented. In this embodiment, the cover attachment portion 62E is provided to be separated from the cleaning housing. However, the kerf attachment portion 62E is integrally provided near the opening of the cleaning housing and can be configured to be easily moved to the opening for closing. The cleaning housing may also have a mechanism for detecting a stationary state of the suction equipment and for automatically closing the opening. The stationary state of the suction equipment can be easily detected by measuring the static pressure inside the lower housing.

(Yes)

The dry cleaning apparatus used to describe the embodiment with reference to FIG. 3 was actually manufactured by the following method.

The cylindrical inner housing 30A is set to have a cylinder height of 50 mm and a diameter of 150 mm. In addition, the inner cylinder member 30D is set to have 80 mm.

The opening 30E has a length of 45 mm in the axial direction of the cylinder of the upper housing 30A, and has been formed into a rectangular shape having a length of 60 mm in the direction of the cylinder peripheral surface. In addition, a suction port 30F having a rectangular cross section of 45 mm x 5 mm was used as an internal dimension.

The entire dry cleaning housing 30 is made of plastic resin and the lower housing 30 is connected to a duct of a household electric vacuum cleaner that serves as a "suction equipment".

The material properties and the size of the cleaning medium are appropriately selected depending on the kind of stain on the object to be cleaned. Here, a description is given of a cleaning medium suitable for removing foreign matter in the form of a film such as flux.

22A to 22D are schematic diagrams each illustrating a pattern when the flaky cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO.

In the case of the cleaning medium in which plastic deformation is likely to occur, the deformation at the end of the cleaning medium PC becomes large as shown in Fig. 22C, which causes an increase in the contact area and a decrease in the impact force. As a result, the contact force at the end of the cleaning medium PC is dispersed when the cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO, thereby degrading the cleaning performance of the cleaning housing. Thus, the cleaning medium PC is less likely to dig into foreign matter in the form of a film, which causes a decrease in the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning apparatus.

In addition, in the case of the cleaning medium PC in which ductile breakage occurs, the plastic deformation at the end of the cracked surface of the cleaning medium PC becomes large as shown in FIG. 22D, which is an increase in the contact area and an impact force. Causes a decrease in. As a result, the contact force at the end of the cleaning medium PC is dispersed when the cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO, thereby degrading the cleaning performance of the cleaning housing. Thus, the cleaning medium PC is less likely to dig into foreign matter in the form of a film, which causes a decrease in the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning apparatus.

In contrast, in the case of a cleaning medium in which cracks occur well, the plastic deformation at the end of the cracked surface of the cleaning medium PC is small. Therefore, dispersion of the contact force at the end of the cleaning medium PC hardly occurs.

Further, even if foreign matter in the form of a film adheres to the end of the cleaning medium PC, when a crack that breaks well occurs repeatedly, new ends of the cleaning medium PC may be formed one after the other. Therefore, the cleaning efficiency of the cleaning device is never reduced.

Examples of the material that is well broken include resin pieces such as glass pieces, ceramic pieces, acrylic resins, polystyrenes, and polylactic acid.

The cleaning medium PC breaks when the bending force is repeatedly applied to the cleaning medium PC. The present invention defines the brittleness of the cleaning medium PC according to the bending resistance.

When a cleaning medium made of a broken material having a bending resistance of 52 or less is used, a burr generated when the cleaning medium PC is repeatedly contacted with the cleaning object CO is generated. ) But is bent and separated from the cleaning medium PC (see FIG. 22B). Since no burr remains on the cleaning medium PC, the edge of the cleaning medium PC is maintained.

In addition, if a cleaning medium PC made of a broken material having a bending resistance of less than 10 is used, the cleaning medium PC is bent at its center before burrs are generated to produce a new edge of the cleaning medium PC. (See FIG. 22A).

Thus, the edge of the cleaning medium PC is maintained. Since the edge of the cleaning medium PC is maintained, the amount of dents in the cleaning medium PC are not reduced when the cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO. As a result, the stuck film removal performance of the cleaning medium PC does not deteriorate with time.

Here, it is defined that the flaky cleaning medium PC has a thickness of 0.02 mm or more and 0.2 or less and an area of 100 mm 2 or less.

Pencil hardness was measured according to the method according to JIS K-5600-5-4 which shows the number of the hardest pencil shim in which flaws or depressions are not formed in the evaluated flaky cleaning medium (PC).

In addition, the bending resistance is measured according to the method according to JIS P8115 which shows the required number of times until the flaky cleaning medium PC is broken after the bending operation of the flaky cleaning medium is repeatedly bent at 135 ° with R = 0.38 mm. It became.

Here, an epoxy resin palette containing glass fibers to which flux was attached was used as a sample for cleaning. Pallets were used to mask the unsoldered areas of the PCB when the soldering process was performed in the flow soldering bath. If such a mask jig is used repeatedly, the flux may accumulate thick in the form of a film. Therefore, it is necessary to periodically remove the flux. The pencil hardness of the fixed flux was 2B. In addition, the film thickness was in the range of 0.5 mm to 1 mm.

As the cleaning apparatus, a dry cleaning apparatus having a dry cleaning housing shown in FIG. 3 was used. Suction equipment with suction performance (vacuum of 20 Kpa) was used as the cleaning device. Using a flux-fixed pallet, the area with an opening area of 45 mm x 60 mm was cleaned for 2 seconds as one sample unit. 2 g of each cleaning medium (PC) was used. The flaky cleaning medium (PC) used and the cleaning results are shown in Table 1.

The judgment marks used in the table are as follows.

A: The stain was almost removed.

B: Cleaning residue was partially present.

C: Almost cleaned.

D: It was considerably cleaned.

E: The cleaning medium was consumed and completely discharged from the cleaning bath.

As characteristics of each cleaning medium PC, bending resistance and pencil hardness are shown in Table 1.

According to the determination result of the initial cleaning performance shown in Table 1, it was found that the flux stain was hardly removed when the pencil hardness of the cleaning medium PC was less than or equal to the pencil hardness of 2B of the flux. This is because, when the cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO, the cleaning medium PC does not penetrate into the flux stain in the form of a film.

The cleaning medium PC is scattered by the airflow and repeatedly comes into contact with the cleaning object CO. Each time the cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO, damage accumulates in the cleaning medium PC, which causes deterioration such as breakage or deformation in the cleaning medium PC.

In addition, the mechanical properties (bending resistance and pencil hardness) of each cleaning medium PC are shown in FIG.

Referring to Table 1 and FIG. 22, a description of the deterioration pattern of the cleaning medium PC is provided in detail. For cleaning media (PC) made of a material with a bending resistance of less than 10, such as glass, acrylic 1 (in original text, the same applies for other numbers), acrylic 2 and COC (polyolefin), The cleaning medium PC is broken near its center due to the impact generated when it comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO as shown in Fig. 22A. At this time, since the broken surface of the cleaning medium PC has a new edge to dig into the flux, the stuck substance removal performance of the cleaning medium PC is not degraded.

In the case of a cleaning medium PC made of a material having a bending resistance of 10 or more and 52 or less, such as TAC 1, TAC 2 and PI 2, the cleaning medium PC does not break near its center, but the cleaning medium PC Only burrs generated when they come into collision contact with the cleaning object CO are broken as shown in FIG. 22Bdp. Since the thickness of the cleaning medium PC is maintained, the cleaning medium PC maintains the effect of digging into the flux and removing it.

In the case of the cleaning medium PC made of a material having a bending resistance of 65 or more, the cleaning medium is not bent when the cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO, but the plastic deformation is caused by the cleaning medium PC. Occurs on the edge of the.

22C shows a state in which the edge of the cleaning medium PC is crushed and therefore limps because of its plastic deformation. Of the materials in Table 1, PT 1 shows this behavior.

FIG. 22D shows a state where the cleaning medium PC curls due to its plastic deformation. Among the materials in Table 1, SUS, PS 1, PS 2, PET and TPX show this behavior.

22C shows a state in which the edge of the cleaning medium PC is crushed because of its plastic deformation. Among the materials in Table 1, SUS, PS 1, PS 2, PET and TPX show this behavior.

The edges of the cleaning medium PC illustrated with reference to FIGS. 22C and 22D are limp due to plastic deformation, and the impact generated when the cleaning medium PC comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO is reduced. As a result, the cleaning performance of the cleaning medium PC deteriorates considerably after a plurality of samples have been processed as shown in Table 1.

According to the above results, if a cleaning medium (PC) made of a broken material having a pencil hardness greater than the pencil hardness of the flux and having a bending resistance of 0 to 52 or less is used to remove the flux stuck in the film state, Excellent results can be obtained for.

As a basis for the numerical values exemplified in this embodiment, the numerical ranges of the bending resistance of each cleaning medium PC are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

In Tables 1 and 2, flaky cleaning media (PC) (made of materials such as glass, COC and acrylic 2) exhibiting average bending resistance or minimum bending resistance of zero are applied to the flaky cleaning media (PC). When broken, it is extremely well broken and the flaky cleaning medium (PC) is consumed in a very short time period. Therefore, operating cost becomes high.

In addition, the material PI 2 showing good cleaning properties has a maximum bending resistance of 52. Therefore, if the cleaning medium PC has a bending resistance of 1 or more and 52 or less, excellent cleaning performance can be maintained for a long time.

In addition, between the cleaning media PC, where cracks are broken as shown in FIG. 22A, the cleaning media PC made of acrylic 1 exhibits a maximum bending resistance of 9. Thus, a well cracked crack as shown in FIG. 22A occurs in the cleaning medium PC exhibiting a bending resistance of 0 to 9 and less, and a well cracked crack as shown in FIG. 22B is bent at 10 to 52 degrees. It can be classified as occurring in a cleaning medium PC having a resistance.

And, the cleaning medium PC made of acrylic 2 exhibiting a minimum bending resistance of zero is extremely well broken and thus cannot withstand long term use. On the other hand, the cleaning medium (PC) made of acrylic 1 having a maximum bending resistance of 1 can maintain its cleaning performance for a long time as shown in Table 1.

number
Cleaning medium Sample processing number material Thickness (μ) Bending resistance Pencil hardness One 30 One Polyolefin 155 0 B A E 2 Glass 100 0 9H or more D E 3 Acrylic② 125 2 H ~ F C E 4 Acrylic① 125 4 2H C C 5 TAC (triacetate) ① 120 24 H C C 6 TAC (triacetate) ② 105 32 2H C C 7 PI (polyimide) ② 135 45 2H C C 8 PS (polystyrene) ① 130 88 HB B A 9 SUS (stainless steel) 20 95 9H or more D A 10 PS (polystyrene) ② 150 190 4B A A 11 PI (Polyimide) ① 125 3250 F B A 12 PE (polyethylene) 100 More than 10000 6B A A 13 TPX 100 More than 10000 4B A A 14 PET 110 More than 10000 H B A

Note: "B" and "A" indicate that the flaky media curls due to plastic deformation.

"A" indicates that the edge of the cleaning medium limps due to plastic deformation.

number material Average bending resistance Bending resistance Bending resistance 3 Acrylic② 2 8 0 4 Acrylic① 4 9 One 7 PI① 45 52 41 8 PS① 88 115 65

Cleaning media having a pencil hardness of at least pencil hardness of the foreign film in the form of membrane and having a bending resistance of at least 2 and not more than 45 in order to more accurately remove foreign matters in the form of a flux such as flux from the average of the bending resistances of each cleaning medium shown in Table 1. It has been found that it is preferable to use (PC).

As the cleaning medium PC, a cleaning piece made of an acrylic resin having a thickness of 0.1 mm and a length (area: 25 mm 2) of 5 mm in height and width was used.

As the object of cleaning, an aluminum plate was used, which is assumed to be a deep pallet with flux fixed on one side thereof to form a layer with a thickness of approximately 0.5 to 1 mm. The stuck flux was not removed at all by nailing the front of the flux layer.

In the upper housing, approximately 2 g of cleaning medium PC was maintained as described above. In this state, a rotary airflow was created in such a way that the opening was closed by the "palm". The cleaning piece was scattered by the rotary airflow, and came into contact with the palm of the hand. At this time, the operator felt "significant pain" in the palm, but the palm was not injured.

The opening was brought into contact with a layer of flux fixed to the aluminum plate to perform the cleaning operation described above. As a result, the stuck flux was completely removed within approximately 10 seconds from the area corresponding to the area of the opening, i.e. 45 mm x 60 mm (2700 mm 2). In addition, when the opening was opened, the cleaning medium PC did not leak from the opening.

From the foregoing results, it has been found that the dry cleaning apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention has an excellent cleaning function.

(supplement)

In the following, a description is given of the supplement to an embodiment of the present invention.

The cleaning housing allows the rotary airflow to be created therein. Thus, the interior space of the cleaning housing has a "continuous inner wall" which facilitates the creation of rotary airflow and allows the airflow to circulate along the inner wall of the housing, preferably as a cross-sectional shape, a polygonal shape, a circle. It is formed to have a shape or the like.

As mentioned above, since the "ventilating path" of the cleaning housing has the function of straightening the "flow of air introduced from the outside", the ventilation path is generally formed in a "pipe shape with a smooth inner surface". Further, for example, the "plate-shaped flow path control panel having a smooth surface" can achieve the effect of straightening air in the direction along the surface of the plate. Thus, the "ventilation path can be constituted by the plate-shaped flow path control unit.

In addition, the "airflow" in the ventilation path is generally straight. However, even if the airflow shows a gentle curve with small flow resistance, the ventilation path still has the function of straightening the airflow. Therefore, the shape of the ventilation path is not limited to the line.

The "cross section orthogonal to the ventilation path" at the inner surface of the ventilation path may have various shapes such as circles, ellipses and slits.

The air introduced through the ventilation path forms a rotary air stream as described above. However, since the cleaning housing is sucked through the porous unit, part of the air forming the rotary airflow is discharged out of the housing through the porous unit.

However, since the outside air is continuously introduced through the ventilation path, the introduced air always merges with the rotary airflow. Thus, the rotary airflow is stably formed.

The rotary airflow is circulated inside the cleaning housing several times until it is sucked into the suction unit through the porous unit. Thus, according to the airflow simulation, it was found that the flow rate of the rotary airflow reached 5 to 6 times the flow rate of the air flowing through the ventilation path.

Here, a description is given of the "thin cleaning piece" constituting the "cleaning medium".

The cleaning piece has a thin shape as represented by the term "flacky" and has a small size as represented by the term "piece".

As mentioned above, examples of the material of the cleaning piece may include resins such as "polycarbonate. Polyethylene, terephthalate and acrylic cellulose resin", minerals such as paper, fibers, mica, ceramics, glass, and metals.

Among them, a suitable one can be selected and used according to the degree of adhesion of the stain adhered to the cleaning object CO. For example, if the adhesion of the stain adhered to the cleaning object CO is low, a "soft cleaning piece" made of paper or fiber may be used.

"Washing piece on flakes" provides the following effects.

(1) "Air resistance in the surface direction of the cleaning piece" is higher than the weight of the cleaning piece, and is easily floated, scattered and accelerated by a relatively small airflow, and is high in terms of followability to the rotating airflow.

(2) Since the cleaning piece is thin, foreign matters (stains) can be removed even if the entire surface of the cleaning object CO is complicated by penetrating into a narrow area of the front surface of the cleaning object CO.

(3) Since the size and thickness of the cleaning piece are small, the amount of material used for the cleaning medium can be suppressed.

(4) Because of the scratch effect by the "thick edge" of the flaky cleaning piece, the stain with strong adhesion can be removed well.

(5) When the stain adhered to the cleaning object CO is separated from the cleaning object CO in the form of a "powder", the difference in the area between the "powder stain" and the cleaning piece becomes large. Therefore, the separation by the porous unit becomes easy. In particular, assuming that the cleaning piece is made up of small pieces of "resin film", when the entire surface of the cleaning piece is smooth, separation between the cleaning piece and the stain piece becomes easy.

If the adhesion of "stain" is low, a cleaning piece made of a resin film or the like having "flexibility" can be used.

The "washing piece having flexibility" has the following effects.

(6) When the flexible cleaning piece comes into collisional contact with the cleaning object CO, a part of the shock is absorbed due to the deflection. Therefore, the cleaning target is less likely to be damaged.

(7) Since the flexible cleaning piece comes in line contact with the cleaning object CO and comes into surface contact, foreign matters (stains) adhering to a larger area can be removed for each collision.

Among the effects of "1 to 7", the effects of "1, 2, 3, 6 and 7" are superior to the cleaning method using the conventionally known "shot blasting", and "4, 5 and 6". The effect of is superior to the cleaning method using "powder blastin such as baking soda".

In addition, the effects of "2, 3, 4 and 5" are superior to the cleaning method using elastic blasting such as rubber.

The shape of the "cleaning piece" which comprises a cleaning medium is not specifically limited. The shape of the cleaning piece may be appropriately selected according to the surface shape of the cleaning object CO, the type of the stain, the degree of adhesion of the stain, and the like.

For example, a "rectangular cleaning piece" can be easily formed and produced at low cost. If it is desirable to clean the hole portion of the cleaning object CO in the cleaning operation, the cleaning piece preferably has a "shape like strip, cross and star forming an acute angle". If it is desired to minimize the dust generated from the "dust of the cleaning medium" in conjunction with the cleaning operation, the cleaning piece preferably has a circular shape.

The cleaning pieces constituting the "cleaning medium used simultaneously" are not necessarily the same in size, shape, thickness, and the like.

If the "cleaning piece" made of a material having flexibility has an area S of 200 mm 2 or more, the above-described effect of "3" cannot be properly obtained, and the scattering of the cleaning piece by the rotary airflow becomes difficult, and the cleaning piece Large suction force is needed to disperse.

In contrast, if the cleaning piece has an area S of 1 mm 2 or less, the above-described effects of "4, 5, and 6" cannot be easily obtained.

As mentioned above, in order to "get more appropriately" the effects, the cleaning piece preferably has an area in the range of 2 mm 2 ≤ S ≤ 100 mm 2.

If the cleaning piece has a thickness D of 0.5 mm or more, the strength of the cleaning piece is increased, and the flexibility of the cleaning piece is reduced. As a result, the "effects of flexibility 6 and 7" is weakened.

If the cleaning piece has a thickness of 0.03 mm or less, the strength of the cleaning piece is reduced, and the "impact given to stains" becomes small when the cleaning piece comes into contact with the cleaning object CO. As a result, the cleaning effect is weakened. In addition, the cleaning piece comes into close contact with the inner wall of the cleaning housing and the like, and thus is not easily scattered again. Moreover, the cleaning piece is firmly attached to the porous unit, and there is a possibility of causing clogging of the porous unit.

Preferably, the cleaning piece has a thickness of 0.2 mm or less and 0.05 mm or more in order to obtain a better effect.

In the case where the cleaning piece has a small area, even if the lower limit of the thickness of the cleaning piece is 0.05 mm or less, the problem that the cleaning piece is not easily scattered again and the porous cleaning unit arises from the reduced strength of the cleaning piece with the desired flexibility given to the cleaning piece It is possible to prevent the "problem blocking".

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2010-175687, filed August 4, 2010 and Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-092448, filed April 18, 2011, to Japan Patent Office, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein. do.

Claims (14)

A dry cleaning housing in which a cleaning medium including a flake cleaning piece is scattered by airflow and the cleaning medium is brought into contact with the cleaning object to clean the cleaning object.
An internal space in which the cleaning medium is scattered;
An opening configured to be in contact with the cleaning object to cause the cleaning medium to collide with the cleaning object;
A ventilation path configured to supply air from the outside to the internal space;
A suction port configured to suck the air introduced into the interior space through the ventilation path to generate a rotary airflow inside the interior space; And
Perforated unit that allows material removed from the cleaning object to pass through
Including,
Dry cleaning housing.
The method of claim 1,
Wherein the outlet portion of the ventilation path is disposed at a position where the static pressure near the outlet portion of the ventilation path becomes equal to or close to atmospheric pressure when the opening is moved away from the front surface of the cleaning object.
Dry cleaning housing.
The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The ventilation path straightens the air from the outside toward the opening,
Dry cleaning housing.
4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The porous unit is disposed on a surface orthogonal to the rotary shaft of the rotary airflow,
Dry cleaning housing.
5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The inner space has a shape of a rotating body,
The ventilation path is positioned such that the airflow introduced through the ventilation path is formed as the rotary airflow at an angle close to the tangential angle of the rotor body shape.
Dry cleaning housing.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Further comprising a flow path restricting member configured to surround the rotary shaft of the rotary airflow,
Dry cleaning housing.
7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
In the state where the inside of the dry cleaning housing is sucked through the suction port,
The ratio of the flow rate of the air introduced when the opening is opened to the flow rate of the air introduced when the opening is closed, that is, the flow rate of the air introduced when the opening is opened / inflow when the opening is closed Flow rate of compressed air) is 0.25 or less,
Dry cleaning housing.
8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
And an on / off valve configured to adjust the flow of air flowing in the ventilation path according to the static pressure inside the dry cleaning housing,
Dry cleaning housing.
A dry cleaning housing according to any one of claims 1 to 8;
The cleaning medium as a collection of flake-like cleaning pieces held inside the dry cleaning housing; And
A suction unit configured to suck the interior of the dry cleaning housing through the suction port
Including,
Dry cleaning device.
10. The method of claim 9,
The cleaning housing is a dry cleaning housing according to claim 8,
The dry cleaning apparatus further includes a control unit configured to control the open / close valve according to the static pressure inside the dry cleaning housing,
Dry cleaning device.
11. The method according to claim 9 or 10,
The dry cleaning housing may be manually maintained with the suction port connected to the suction unit,
Dry cleaning device.
11. The method according to claim 9 or 10,
A cleaning object holding unit configured to hold the cleaning object; And
A position and attitude control unit configured to hold the dry cleaning housing and to control the position and attitude of the dry cleaning housing with respect to the cleaning object held by the clean object holding unit.
≪ / RTI >
Dry cleaning device.
13. The method according to any one of claims 9 to 12,
The flake-shaped cleaning piece has an area S in the range of 1 mm 2 ≤ S ≤ 200 mm 2, and has a thickness D of 0.03 mm ≤ D ≤ 0.5 mm,
Dry cleaning device.
A dry cleaning method in which a cleaning medium as a collection of flake cleaning pieces is scattered by airflow and the cleaning medium is brought into contact with the cleaning object to clean the cleaning object.
Holding the cleaning medium in the dry cleaning housing according to any one of claims 1 to 8;
Contacting the opening of the dry cleaning housing with the cleaning object to close it;
Suctioning the interior of the dry cleaning housing through the suction port to generate a negative pressure inside the dry cleaning housing;
Introducing air into the interior of the dry cleaning housing from the outside of the dry cleaning housing through the ventilation path by the negative pressure to create a rotary airflow inside the dry cleaning housing; And
Causing the cleaning medium to be scattered by the rotary airflow and causing the cleaning medium to contact the front surface of the cleaning object closing the opening to perform a cleaning operation;
/ RTI >
Dry cleaning method.

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